Joventut is facing a tough opponent in Badalona
Joventut Badalona will welcome Prometey Slobozhanske tomorrow evening at the Palau Olimpic de Badalona in a game that counts for Round 9 of the current EuroCup season.
It’s not the best moment for Joventut and they really need a victory tomorrow. The Catalan team is on a three-game losing streak in the competition and they lost two of these games at home, against London Lions and Paris Basketball. They also lost against Hapoel Tel Aviv in Belgrade and with that defeat the green and black team has a modest record of 3 wins and 5 losses that places them currently in 7th position, out of the playoffs. Additionally, Carles Duran’s team suffered a heavy 32-point defeat Saturday in the Spanish ACB against Murcia. That defeat put Joventut outside of the playoff picture in the domestic league too, which is disappointing for a team of Joventut’s caliber. Of course, injuries did harm the team’s performance, as important players like Andres Feliz, Vladimir Brodziansky or Ante Tomic had to miss games because of injuries and this cost the Spanish side some defeats. New addition Tyler Cook seems to be a good signing so far, as he was solid in both games he played so far since joining Badalona.
The visitors Prometey are currently in 6th place in the group with a 4-4 record. They come after two consecutive wins in EuroCup and they also lead the Latvian-Estonian league where they participate this season with 8 wins in 9 games. The Ukrainian team also had some very good news for its fans as they announced that DJ Kennedy, Gian Clavell and Denys Lukashov have recovered after injuries. However DJ Kennedy still needs 10-14 more days until he can return, so he will surely miss tomorrow’s game.
Even with players returning to Prometey, Joventut is the favourite to win this game. Andres Feliz who is the leader of the team in PIR also returned from injury and the Catalans cannot afford another defeat at home. Also, we can expect a high-scoring game as both teams have an average of over 85 points scored per game.
Imre Halasz
Image: EuroLeague
